Kimi wont drive the remaining races, due to back problems

[janneppi]

According to Turun Sanomat, Kimi won't drive in the remaining races this season, but goes into back surgery next week.

http://www.ts.fi/moottoriurheilu/f1/558 ... mis+season (http://www.ts.fi/moottoriurheilu/f1/558601/The+backsurgery+ends+up+Kimis+season)

[Mia 01]

The back problem got worse the last days , can´t sleep whitout painkillers, not good.

Get well soon Kimi!!!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111218

[Finski]

Ahh that sucks :(

Hope he is well soon and I am super excited to see him in the first 2014 race :D

[steveaki13]

So who will drive the last two races. I assume it will be Davide Valsecchi

Or do you think they will look for someone else.

[zako85]

What an unfortunate end to one of the most prominent driver-team love stories of the last few years. In my opinion, Lotus is the only front running team, besides Red Bull, that still puts a lot of resources into 2013 championship. I was hoping that, despite the recent spat between Kimi and Lotus regarding his delayed salary and bonuses, he could finish the season on a high note, and perhaps win a race. Motor.ru, one of Russia's leading web-based automotive news sites named his as the number 1 of the top 10 drivers of all motorsports in 2012. All in all, Kimi had a good run with Lotus for these couple of years. In some way, he has reinvigorated not only the Lotus team but all of F1 by returning since 2012.

[Mia 01]

Yeaah, whitout Kimi the last two races of this year will be alot duller, at least it not two years!!

Who should I cheer for now, Jenson or Nico R, Jenson or Nico. Can´t choose.

[Juppe]

I think that this means that Kimi did not get his money for this year and therefore he opted to go to the back surgery.

Why would you risk your health for somebody, who does not even pay you for doing it?

I think this will also mean that Kimi will have to go to court if he wants to see any of his money. It is a smart move to take the surgery now, because to need for it is obviously genuine and therefore Lotus cannot accuse Kimi for not fulfilling his part of the contract - any doctor will be happy testify, that he was not fit for driving...

It is possible that he was requested to get his back in order as soon as possible by Ferrari as well.

[Bagwan]

Yep , a rundown of the folks involved in the decision makes it a pretty easy choice .

Lotus , striving for points in the championship would naturally see him as their best chance to get them , so , want him to drive .
But , they have trouble paying his salary .
Ferrari , where he just made a visit , had an intimate view into how he was moving , presumably , at his seat fitting , and , given he is signed , also think that he is Lotus's best chance at getting points in that seat .

Though it kinda sucks that we won't see him drive for the last two races , this seems the best way that Kimi can go , getting his body in shape for the campaign next year .
Austin , being new , is a smooooth track , but Brazil certainly isn't , and a bad back there doesn't make things smooth in the race .

These days , with limited testing , nobody but the driver has too much real advantage in the choice for the replacement .
And , next year , the cars are at square one again , to some degree , so there's not much point in switching anyone else in but Valsecchi for the last two .

They don't seem to have the money to do anything else anyway

[pino]

Good luck to Kimi but great news and chance for Valsecchi then :up: :p:

[anfield5]

Yeaah, whitout Kimi the last two races of this year will be alot duller, at least it not two years!!

Who should I cheer for now, Jenson or Nico R, Jenson or Nico. Can´t choose.

How can not having a man with no personality not racing, make things duller? It's a bit like not adding blancmange to the dessert cart.

[Dave B]

Lucky his wallet is so light, otherwise his back pain would have been even worse.

[Bagwan]

Lucky his wallet is so light, otherwise his back pain would have been even worse.

Big trouble for Ferrari , though , as they'll have to make a seat to accommodate both the thick wallet and the thin one .

[Tazio]

I thinl they should bring in "The Shoe" to replace him. :stareup: :crazy:

No, no no no no, they should bring in Jacques! :laugh: :devil:

Good luck Kimi. Get well soon!

[airshifter]

I thinl they should bring in "The Shoe" to replace him. :stareup: :crazy:

No, no no no no, they should bring in Jacques! :laugh: :devil:

Good luck Kimi. Get well soon!

Jacques? Have you been talking with Roamy on a regular basis still? :laugh:


Though crazy things have happened. It would be interesting to dig up the threads with all those saying Kimi would never return to F1, as well as those that thought MS would never come back in a team other than Ferrari.

[RS]

How about this;

Hulkenberg to Lotus early, Perez back to Sauber, Magnussen in at McLaren early :)

Can't really see that coming together though.. give it to Valsecchi, I would feel sorry for him if the reserve driver is not given the job he is there to do. And besides, who else is available at short notice who could actually be better?

[Tazio]

Jacques? Have you been talking with Roamy on a regular basis still? :laugh:



No, Baggy!! ;) :angel:

[Koz]

Shame he won't finish the season.
Hopefully his back won't cause any issues for next year.

Lotus is still in the chase for 2-3 in the WCC. Some bad luck for Ferrari or Merc and they will make a lot of money. I can't see them throwing this away with a gamble on a new, unexperienced driver.

Enter Kovalainen or Kobayashi?

[Koz]

These days , with limited testing , nobody but the driver has too much real advantage in the choice for the replacement .
And , next year , the cars are at square one again , to some degree , so there's not much point in switching anyone else in but Valsecchi for the last two .

They don't seem to have the money to do anything else anyway

I tell you: every one who doesn't have a seat this year or next year will drive the car for free. Hell, someone might even pay to drive the two races.

Who exactly is going to pass up driving one of the top cars?

[RS]

Shame he won't finish the season.
Hopefully his back won't cause any issues for next year.

Lotus is still in the chase for 2-3 in the WCC. Some bad luck for Ferrari or Merc and they will make a lot of money. I can't see them throwing this away with a gamble on a new, unexperienced driver.

Enter Kovalainen or Kobayashi?

I thought of Kobayashi but I can't see Ferrari lending him to Renault to help them beat them in the championship!

You may be on to something with Kovalainen. At least he has driven an F1 car recently.

[anfield5]

It has to be their reserve driver surely?. If not what is the point of having Davide Valsecchi in the car in P1 all season?

[RS]

If not what is the point of having Davide Valsecchi in the car in P1 all season?

Did I miss something?

[Bagwan]

I thinl they should bring in "The Shoe" to replace him. :stareup: :crazy:

No, no no no no, they should bring in Jacques! :laugh: :devil:

Good luck Kimi. Get well soon!

Sizzler , you leave JV alone !

I like the idea .
But , there is no Flav there any more to take a flyer like that , dammit !

He'd certainly do better than that old shoe did . That's for sure .

[Tazio]

Sizzler , you leave JV alone !

He'd certainly do better than that old shoe did . That's for sure .
Really? ;)

[N4D13]

It's quite convenient for Ferrari that Lotus' main points scorer will not be racing in the last two GPs when there is a three-way battle for second place in the standings, which is worth something around €10 million (or was that in dollars) if I recall correctly. Very well played by Ferrari indeed...

[jas123f1]

Kimi is super guy and I hope that everything goes well and Kimi is back when next sesong begins ..

[555-04Q2]

I don't see the problem, nothing that a bottle of whiskey can't sort out and we know he has plenty of that lying around! :p:

[Storm]

Lack/delay of payments by Lotus + Ferrari deal done + bad blood with team = back pain.

edit: before people slag me off, I did not mean that the back pain is fake/exaggerated, but I bet he would not be going for surgery before the season is over had it not been for the 3 things I mentioned in the first line.

[Bezza]

I am surprised that he left it until now to call it a day with Lotus.

Especially after the way that arrogant twerp Alan Permane spoke to him on team radio in India. Permane is probably the most useless race engineer out there. You here Rocky with Vettel, Smedley with Massa, etc always willing their drivers on. Permane is almost always negative with his drivers - remember Fisi? He never had a good word to say to him, no wonder he had no confidence.

[gm99]

It has to be their reserve driver surely?. If not what is the point of having Davide Valsecchi in the car in P1 all season?

I don't think Valesecchi has done a single Friday practice for Lotus this year, it was always Kimi and Grosjean doing both sessions as far as I can recall. He did drive for Lotus in the Young Driver's Test at Silverstone in July, though.

[Mia 01]

It has to be their reserve driver surely?. If not what is the point of having Davide Valsecchi in the car in P1 all season?

I don't think Valesecchi has done a single Friday practice for Lotus this year, it was always Kimi and Grosjean doing both sessions as far as I can recall. He did drive for Lotus in the Young Driver's Test at Silverstone in July, though.

Driver, team, internetwarriors. When someone threats Kimi bad I don´t like.

Lotus can put whatever driver they will in that seat, I don´t care.

[555-04Q2]

Lack/delay of payments by Lotus + Ferrari deal done + bad blood with team = back pain.

Probably the truth :p:

[airshifter]

Lotus have screwed themselves IMO. Though it's possible that Kimis back might have reached a point where he can't wait for surgery, I suspect that lack of payment has a hand in the decision, and can't fault him if it does.

It seems Kimi wishes to avoid the mud slinging though. From his Facebook page yesterday:

"Raikkonen: Lotus thank you for everything"

[555-04Q2]

Lotus have screwed themselves IMO. Though it's possible that Kimis back might have reached a point where he can't wait for surgery, I suspect that lack of payment has a hand in the decision, and can't fault him if it does.

It seems Kimi wishes to avoid the mud slinging though. From his Facebook page yesterday:

"Raikkonen: Lotus thank you for everything"

Maybe he was being sarcastic? Who knows! :)

[donKey jote]

Maybe he was being sarcastic? Who knows! :)
naah... sarcastic would have been "Raikkonen: Lotus thank you for nothing" :andrea:

[Tazio]

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/moto ... 35776.html (http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing/alonso-braves-back-pain-for-ferrari-in-the-states-8935776.html) :angel: ;)

[555-04Q2]

Now there is a real man!

[RS]

Are Lotus going to confirm the replacement for Kimi sometime before FP1?!

[Tazio]

I'm guessing they will name Valsecchi, it is being reported that Hulkenberg has turned down an offer from Lotus.

[RS]

They did indeed offer it to him: http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/3031 ... ciding-to/ (http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/303190/hulkenberg-declines-lotus-drive-nico-hulkenberg-has-declined-the-chance-to-sub-for-kimi-raikkonen-and-race-for-lotus-in-the-two-races-of-the-season-his-manager-has-confirmed-hulkenberg-apparently-went-to-enstone-for-a-seat-fitting-before-deciding-to/)

[Mauri A]

According to Finnish MTV Kovalainen will drive the last two races.

[Tazio]

That would make sense since he has substantial experience driving this generation car. Plus it would maybe keep certain loyal Nordic F1 fans interested. :love: :heart: :angel:

[COD]

Kovalainen is a good call, hope MTV has s right, no confirmation yet.

As for Kimi, no mon no fun. And he was reported to have visited Maranello last week, so maybe have advised him to take the surgery as soon as possible to give enough time to recover before testing begins

[janneppi]

I think it's mostly because Lotus is so broke they can't afford to change the flag in the pits. ;)
It would nice nice to see Kovalainen back at Renault.

[steveaki13]

Heikki would be nice to see.

I mean after a few years trailing in the Old Lotus and Caterham. Be interesting if he can still be competitive in a decent car.

Might also give him a shot at a seat next season.

[Tazio]

I thinl they should bring in "The Shoe" to replace him. :stareup: :crazy:

No, no no no no, they should bring in Jacques! :laugh: :devil:

Good luck Kimi. Get well soon!

Sizzler , you leave JV alone !

I like the idea .
But , there is no Flav there any more to take a flyer like that , dammit !

He'd certainly do better than that old shoe did . That's for sure .
Hot off the wire:


FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- Michael Schumacher turned down an offer from Lotus to drive the final two races of the season as a replacement for Kimi Raikkonen. :spinhead: :stareup:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/ ... TE=DEFAULT (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CAR_F1_SCHUMACHER_LOTUS?SECTION=HOME&SITE=AP&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT)

Too bad, a chance for Mike to take one more shot at Fred :dork:

In related news:


Jacques is reportedly throwing in the proverbial towel and crying "no mas"

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/11/04/repo ... f1-return/ (http://www.autoblog.com/2010/11/04/report-jacques-villeneuve-gives-up-on-f1-return/)

Sorrry baggy! :laugh: ;) :angel:

[jas123f1]

Heikki to Lotus !
Nice .. hopefully Heikki take care of the possibility .. . it can at least Increase his options considering the next sesong - if he make a top job ... :burnout:

[Koz]

Good news.

He might well get a drive if he can match Grosjean.

[Finski]

Good to see heikki driving, makes more exciting for me to see another finn in the race, looking forward to USGP

[jas123f1]

Kimi's surgery went well, now wait four to six week-recovery before he can start training "at the full speed" .. I think the decision at to take the surgery right now was absolutely right - it would have been foolish to wait ..

[555-04Q2]

Wonder if they gave him a check-up from the neck up at the same time? :p: :D

[COD]

Your brain has been scanned and we found nothing

[Doc Austin]

It would have been embarrassing if Kimi helped Lotus knock off Ferrari in the constructor's championship right after he signed for Lotus. If he didn't beat Ferrari he would probably be accused of sandbagging, and if he did, that would make the first few days in Maranello pretty uncomfortable. Pretty sad when your best option is to have back surgery!

[jens]

What a sad ending to a season, which started on such a promising note with a win in Australia. Then after consecutive podium finishes Räikkönen was only 4 points behind Vettel after the Spanish Grand Prix. But since then the season has slowly derailed, culminating with a first corner crash in Abu Dhabi and two DNS in the final two races.

Also a sad end to a Lotus-Räikkönen partnership, which has been a good underdog story. I think it was impressive, how they were punching above their weight for two years, but in the end chronical financial problems became a burden for the team, so that even if their car competitiveness doesn't suffer (yet), they can't pay anything to the driver...